Spending on physical activity must increase

SIR – We are experiencing an epidemic of obesity that has never previously been seen and the deadly duet of inactivity and excessive body fat are the impetus behind the escalating numbers of people with diabetes and the hugely significant financial cost of its treatment.

SIR – We are experiencing an epidemic of obesity that has never previously been seen and the deadly duet of inactivity and excessive body fat are the impetus behind the escalating numbers of people with diabetes and the hugely significant financial cost of its treatment.

The launch of the Active Travel (Wales) Bill by the Welsh Government is an exciting moment for our nation and has the potential to place Wales amongst the leading countries of the world with regard to providing safe walking and cycling routes for everyday journeys (“Government battles obesity by getting Wales on the road”, Feb 19).

Public health and transport policies should be co-ordinated to create an environment that is conducive to increasing physical activity and improving the health of the population.

A recently published study in The Lancet has estimated that increased walking and cycling has the potential to reduce NHS costs in England and Wales by £17bn within 20 years. If properly implemented this Bill will not just be about transport – it will lead to a more active Wales, a healthier Wales and a wealthier Wales.

As leading health professionals, we support the ambitious aims of the Active Travel (Wales) Bill, but to achieve its full potential it must be backed by appropriate funding. If we were matching European levels of spending on walking and cycling, the Welsh Government would be spending £60m a year. It currently spends just £15m. This may appear to be a considerable amount, but considering NHS expenditure on the treatment of preventable disease, the investment would pay for itself many times over.

SIR – I read Alun Michael’s comments attempting to justify his 7% increase in his part of the council tax with interest (Letters, Jan 30). He says that this will enable him to continue for a “24-hour, seven-day-a-week police service”.

As a town councillor for Trefforest I hear from worried constituents about the possibility of Pontypridd police station decreasing their opening hours, and the effects that it will have on police presence in the ward.

Recently there were six burglaries in one night and people are rightly concerned about what impact reducing the availability of our nearest station will have on their safety.

With his proposed 7% increase on our council tax can the Police Commissioner confirm that services in Trefforest and the rest of South Wales will not see their service downgraded?

CERI CARTER

Plaid Cymru town councillor for Trefforest ward

Freedom of religion

SIR – Paul Botto (Letters, Feb 9) encourages religious believers to oppose same sex marriage by voting out politicians who are in favour of it. On the face of it this is voting according to one’s conscience, which would be fair enough.

However, think about it for a moment and you will see that those with this mindset seek only to impose their religious views on society at large, including those who do not share those views.

Freedom of religion is a very important principle in a modern society, as is freedom from religion. If some religious people are against same-sex marriage that is their right, but they should express their beliefs by not marrying someone of the same sex rather than trying to impose their views on everyone else.

We should respect freedom of conscience. Your rights to practise your religion end at someone else’s front door.

BARRY TAYLOR

Pontllanfraith, Caerphilly

Step back in time

SIR – Reading Paul Botto’s letter on gay marriage was like stepping back in time. How on earth can any reasonable person be so against a person of any sex committing to another through marriage?

Mr Botto makes reference to the “laws of God” in his letter, which of course means absolutely nothing to the majority of the people in this country who abide by laws which were formed through debate, discussion and democratic values.

Thank goodness we, in the 21st century, don’t live in a country where those hideous “laws of god” apply, otherwise we’d be witnessing the barbaric stoning of peaceful, moral homosexual people simply because they love each other and want to be happy.

Educate yourself, Mr Botto, and leave people alone to commit to each other. It won’t affect your life in any way whatsoever.

ELLIS ROBERTS

Neath, NPT

Garth Celyn

SIR – An idea has recently been promoted that the 13th century Princes of Gwynedd had a “peripatetic” lifestyle similar to that of the kings of England, constantly moving their household from place to place (Letters, Feb 2).

The lens has been distorted and the image has become clouded and confused. Before the Edwardian conquest of 1282-83, each commote in Wales had its own llys – a centre of local administration, justice and tax collection run by officials.

There were at least 140 of these llysoedd “courts” including the one at Rhosyr on Anglesey your correspondents mention. Aber Garth Celyn was the commotal centre for Arllechwedd, and remained so after the conquest.

It, too, had its own government offices located somewhere in the settlement. However, from 1200 until 1282 the Princes of Gwynedd chose to make the promontory Garth Celyn, overlooking the Menai Strait and the port of Llanfaes, their main home and headquarters.

We know from documentary and other evidence that the palace complex itself was substantial. It is that Welsh royal home that we want to spotlight and celebrate. The Garth Celyn project is for the benefit of all.

DR JOHN C DAVIES

Conwy

Loss of heritage

SIR – Historical roots are important, it’s about place and people, and like our ancestors we are shaped by our heritage but, how much of our own history do we know?

The plans for the proposed HS2 railway line from London to the Midlands reveal that it will ravage the site of the Battle of Edgcote, July 1469, when Welsh forces under the command of the Earl of Pembroke faced rebels from the North of England trying to depose the Yorkist King Edward IV in favour of the Earl of Warwick, the “King Maker”.

The battle involved an estimated 40,000 troops, and claimed the flower of Welsh society, the largest loss of life in a single day until World War I and remembered for over 100 years.

Apparently the Welsh were left undefended by English archers following a quarrel on the eve of battle between the archers’ commanders, the Earls of Devon and Pembroke.

Lewis Glyn Cothi wrote:

“The mightiest battle of Christendom

And through a fault it was lost....

At Banbury the vengeance was exacted,

Upon fair Wales, and the great fine”

Meanwhile another poet, Guto’r Glyn, wrote simply: “I was killed, I and my nation too.”

Sadly the battle’s not recorded on English Heritage’s Battlefield register.

ADRIEN JONES

President of the Owain Glyndwr Society

Owain remembered

SIR – On February 22, 1403, forces loyal to Owain Glyndwr, the self-proclaimed Prince of Wales, attacked and burnt the town of Hope in north-east Wales.

Prior to this attack, the town was an important English settlement only eight miles south of the garrison city of Chester. Following the destructive raid (“hostilier crematur”), the whole county of Flintshire was plunged headlong into Owain’s nationwide revolt, deemed by historians of much later generations as a national “war of liberation” (1400-15).

This Sunday, February 24, Owain’s very first strategic encroachment into Flintshire will be commemorated in the form of a community parade and a plaque unveiling ceremony in the Flintshire village of Hope, near Wrexham. It will be the 12th year that this annual parade has taken place.

The parade will begin at 12 noon from Hope parish church (opposite White Lion public house) and then proceed to Caergwrle Castle. At 1.30pm, a commemorative plaque will be unveiled by community councillor, Mr David Healey, on the outside wall of the White Lion.

All are welcome to attend this family orientated event.

STEVE GRIFFITHS

Flintshire

Airport brushed out

SIR – On browsing through the weekend newspapers, I was struck by the repeated phrase in many of the holiday advertisements that regional flights are available . Apart from London Heathrow and London Gatwick, which cannot be classed as regional, we have Luton, Stansted, Leeds/Bradford, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Dublin, East Midlands and Edinburgh.

The obvious point is the complete and total air brushing out of Cardiff International Airport. Questions need to be asked of the airport’s owners and management of how this decline in recent years has been allowed to happen.

I have little doubt that lack of demand will be cited as the culprit but I find that hard to believe as only a few years ago demand was strong. I would suggest that supply, lack of service and choice of destinations coupled with the pulling out of low cost budget airlines are the main cause of dissatisfaction.

I would urge that the supply and demand functions are brought into line before it is too late to save the facility.